Archives for April 2009

(Cy Ryan | Las Vegas Sun) – Despite the support of some owners of bordellos, a Senate committee on Thursday defeated a bill to tack a $5 tax on each visit to a prostitute.

By a 4-3 vote, the Senate Taxation Committee rejected Senate Bill 396, which would have imposed the tax and established the office of ombudsman for sex workers.

Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, said he may not support legalize prostitution and Gov. Jim Gibbons “may well veto it.” But Schneider supported imposing the tax.

George Flint, lobbyist for the prostitution industry, said he was disappointed about the outcome. His clients were divided whether to support the tax.

But Flint said the committee gave a fair hearing and he said the brothel owners and three of the prostitutes gave “outstanding presentations.”

Flint said he had a fourth vote at 11 a.m. Thursday “but somebody apparently got to him.” He declined to identify the fourth potential vote.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, the main sponsor of the bill, suggested it would raise $4 million a year with the proceeds going to the state. But Schneider said he wanted the money to remain in rural counties where the bordellos are located.

Schneider levied strong criticism at prostitution in Clark County. He said there were 3,000 pimps and 40,000 prostitutes on the Strip: “It’s also a joke.”

He said trucks drive up and down the Strip advertising girls to come to the hotel rooms. “Years ago Clark County voters were against it but we condone it and it’s illegal,” Schneider said.

Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, said it was “inaccurate to say it’s being condoned.” But he said a losing battle might be being waged.

Flint said he was pleased that for the first time since he started representing the industry in 1985 that the industry got a fair hearing and said he was proud of the three senators who voted for the bill.

He estimated the women entertain 400,000 clients a year in the legal bordellos in rural Nevada and that would bring in an annual $2 million. He said the minimum charge now is $100 to $200 at the 25 houses in Nevada.

(Ashley Powers | Los Angeles Times) – With its gleaming Vegas Strip and stucco sprawl, Nevada has portrayed itself as a model of the civilized West. But every so often, such as Tuesday, holdovers from its boisterous beginnings show up at the Capitol — and they are named Chicken Ranch, Pussycat Ranch and Shady Lady.

Here’s Nevada’s dirty little secret: Many lawmakers would like to keep the state’s legal brothels a dirty little secret.

Never mind the Silver State’s history of profiting off taboos or the potential cash a state tax on prostitution could bring. Each time legislators have considered such a tax, they’ve reacted with all the squeamishness of a teenager whose parents want to talk about the birds and the bees.

But with Nevada facing a budget gap as big as $3 billion and potentially huge cuts to education and social services, state Sen. Bob Coffin convened a hearing Tuesday in Carson City to discuss a state tax on prostitution. (Local governments already tax the bordellos.)

If only for an afternoon, legislators were forced to reconcile the Nevada of madams and gunslingers with the Nevada of multinational corporate giants.

“Can we be so proud as to refuse money that is offered from a legal business?” Coffin, a Democrat, asked at the hearing’s outset.

Over the next few hours, brothel owners thanked lawmakers for even letting them in the building. They used the word “respectability.” A lot. Three legal sex workers advocated for the proposal, while prostitution researcher Melissa Farley derided the whole thing as an “act of legislative pimping.”

Through it all, some lawmakers lowered their eyes and squirmed. Democratic Sen. Terry Care made a point to tell the packed hearing room that his silence should not be construed as approval.

The brothels, which are banned in the counties that include Reno and Las Vegas, are a mixed blessing for the state. Their mere existence helps Vegas sell itself as Sin City, and the HBO show “Cathouse,” set at the Moonlite BunnyRanch, essentially advertises Nevada’s illicit offerings. But when, for example, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) wanted to needle Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), he mistakenly claimed Reid supported a taxpayer-funded “red light express” train from the BunnyRanch to Disneyland.

The brothel owners’ desire for respectability goes back years.

About a decade ago, said George Flint, the longtime Nevada Brothel Assn. lobbyist, the famed Mustang Ranch threw a steak and lobster party for legislators. Only three showed up.

Though many brothel owners have long supported being taxed — Flint calls it “a wonderful life insurance policy” — they could never wrangle the votes. It probably didn’t help, Flint said, the year he joked that grateful brothels would mount photos of the then-governor on their walls.

“The Nevada Legislature is like an ostrich, and with this they want to stick their head in the sand,” said Eric Herzik, chairman of the political science department at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Coffin’s proposal, Senate Bill 369, would require a $5 tax on a prostitute’s services. The brothel association estimated that, even with business plummeting during the recession, bordellos get about 365,000 patrons a year. The bill would also establish a state ombudsman who would, in part, help steer sex workers to other professions.

The hearing ended without a vote, and the proposal will probably die in the Senate Taxation Committee unless legislators take action this week.

The plan has stirred up all sorts of scorn — and some interesting logic.

Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons told the Las Vegas Review-Journal: “I’m not a supporter of legalizing prostitution in Nevada. So by taxing it, there’s a recognition of the legality of it.”

In the 1970s, Nevada allowed some counties to license brothels, in keeping with its tradition of embracing things, such as prizefighting and gambling, that others branded as sins.

But ever since the neon-signed bordellos were codified, folks have pressed to outlaw them. (In 2004, Churchill County voted for both President George W. Bush and keeping prostitution legal — the latter by a 2-to-1 margin.)

On Tuesday, the hearing often veered into whether brothels were a legitimate enterprise. Flint said it was only the second time in 25 years that his clients had appeared before the Legislature.

“My client is a legal, respectable, licensed industry,” he said, and others tried to convince the panel of the same.

Dennis Hof, owner of the BunnyRanch, said, “We’re the world’s oldest profession, and these are working professionals.”

Deanne Salinger, who works at the BunnyRanch as “Air Force Amy,” said, “If $5-a-person can raise $2 million a year, I’m all for it.”

But Ken Green, who runs the Chicken Ranch, acknowledged that, despite the testimony, the brothel business wasn’t quite like all the rest. He told the committee that should a prostitution tax be passed, he would prefer it show up on a credit card receipt with a more subtle name.

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Suzette Cole, CEO, Moonlite Bunny Ranch

“Prostitution is the oldest profession and will not go away. Nevada has been doing it right since 1971 when we took it out of the criminal’s hands and put it into a highly-regulated industry. As an added benefit, there has never been a case of HIV/AIDS in the history of legal brothels here…and you can’t say that about any other profession in the United States.”

John Stossel, Syndicated Columnist

“We don’t have to cheer for prostitution, or think it’s nice, to keep government out of it and let participants make up their own minds. It’s wrong to ban sex workers’ options just to make ourselves feel better.”

Steve Chapman, Syndicated Columnist

“Prohibition doesn’t eliminate the harms generally associated with prostitution, such as violence, human trafficking and disease. On the contrary, it fosters them by driving the business underground.”

Christina Parreira, UNLV Researcher/Sex Worker

“Sex work is my CHOICE. I’d like to continue to have the opportunity to make that choice legally. We don’t need protection. We’re consenting, adult women.”

New York Assemblyman Richard Gottfried

“Trying to stop sex work between consenting adults should not be the business of the criminal justice system.”

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker

“Yes, sex work should be decriminalized. As a general matter, I don’t believe that we should be criminalizing activity between consenting adults, and especially when doing so causes even more harm for those involved.”

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders

“I think the idea of legalizing prostitution is something that should be considered…(and) certainly needs to be discussed.”

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris

“When you’re talking about consenting adults, I think that, yes, we should really consider that we can’t criminalize consensual behavior, as long as no one is being harmed. … We should not be criminalizing women who are engaged in consensual opportunities for employment.”

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren

“I believe humans should have autonomy over their own bodies and they get to make their own decisions.”

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

“If a consenting adult wants to engage in sex work, that is their right, and it should not be a crime. All people should have autonomy over their bodies and their labor.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper

“Legalizing prostitution and regulating it, so there are norms and protections and we understand more clearly how people are being treated and make sure we prevent abuse, I think it should be really looked at.”

Mike Gravel, former Alaska Senator

“Sex workers are workers, and they deserve the dignity and respect that every worker deserves. For too long, we’ve denied them that. Sex workers, not politicians, should lead the way in crafting sex work policy.”

Prof. Ronald Weitzer, George Washington University:

“Unlike illegal street prostitution in many other places, Nevada’s legal brothels do not disturb public order, create nuisances, or negatively impact local communities in other ways. Instead, they provide needed tax revenue for cash-strapped rural towns.”

Prof. Barbara Brents, UNLV author, “State of Sex”:

“Teams of scholars…have concluded that Nevada’s legal brothels provide a far safer environment for sex workers than the criminalized system in the rest of the United States.”

Prof. Sarah Blithe, UNR author, “Sex and Stigma”:

“Discussions of legal prostitution are rife with misinformation. Academic work and popular press publications alike often conflate legal prostitution in the United States with illegal prostitution.”

Lee Herz Dixon:

“Do I think eradicating legal prostitution from all Nevada counties will erase the practice of the oldest profession in the state, or break the nexus of drugs, crime, and exploitation of the vulnerable? I do not.”

Journalist Michael Cernovich:

“It’s empirically proven that criminalizing sex work allows children to be sex trafficked more readily as they are afraid to turn to authorities and wonder if they will be arrested.”

Enrique Carmona:

“We need to put aside moralistic prejudices, whether based on religion or an idealistic form of feminism, and figure out what is in the best interests of the sex workers and public interest as well.”

Ruby Rae, professional courtesan

“In the brothels, we have the choice, always, to say which clients we will say yes and no to. We have staff that would never let a man hurt us, and we have a clientele that do not come here to hurt us.”

Kiki Lover, professional courtesan:

“We are human beings who chose to do sex work on our own free will. We get treated with respect and like family at the brothels. It’s a job just like any other job. We sell a service that all humans need.”

Paris Envy, professional courtesan:

“I’m not ‘exploited.’ I’m not ‘trafficked.’ I’m not ‘brainwashed.’ I don’t need to be ‘saved.’ I’ve freely chosen this line of work, which is a legal, private transaction between consenting adults.”

Alice Little, professional courtesan:

“It’s ILLEGAL sex work that exploits children. It’s ILLEGAL sex work that traffics. It’s ILLEGAL sex work that sees women exploited and abused by pimps.”

Jim Shedd, Nevadan

“Prostitution should be licensed, regulated, taxed like any other service industry. There are many single or widowed men and women who should be able to take advantage of such services provided by consenting adults for consenting adults. Let’s act to at least reduce illegal sex trafficking and other sex crimes by creating safe and legal outlets for paying adults who wish to use them.”

Paul Bourassa, brothel customer:

“Some people are just never given a chance in the dating scene, so brothels offer those of us with no experience a chance to learn what it’s like to be on a date.”

Lewis Dawkins, brothel customer:

“It’s not always about sex. Little compliments and encouragements offered by the ladies help build my self-confidence. It’s a business, yes. But the ladies care personally about their clients. That means a lot.”

Brett Caton, brothel customer:

“I think brothels provide an important function in society. Legal ones give a safe outlet to their customers and for some men it is the only way they get so much as a hug.”

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Mission

The Nevada Brothel Association PAC is a coalition of legal brothel owners, brothel workers, brothel clients and brothel supporters dedicated to defending a woman’s right to choose professional sex work as a career, protecting the public’s health and safety, and preserving Nevada’s rich live-and-let-live heritage.